Public Domain Feature Films

8 Following

Here is a list of feature films and short subjects that fall under Public Domain in the United States or elsewhere. In addition to those listed, any films that were made before 1931 are classified under this as well. There's also a 1970s book, 50,000 Motion Pictures in the Public Domain, which the compilers created by checking films that either didn't renew their copyrights (as it wasn't automatic until 1978) or never filed them to begin with.

Under U.S. copyright law, all works created by the federal government, or by its employees who are acting within the scope of their employment, are public domain from their creation. Note that this does not necessarily apply to works made by state or local governments.

Here, "feature-length" is defined as 40+ minutes, the definition used by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute, and the British Film Institute; however it should be noted that other bodies use different definitions. SAG-AFTRA, the American trade union for film and TV actors, among others (but not stage actors), considers 75 minutes to be the lower cutoff for "feature-length".

Keep in mind when editing the page that just because a movie is old or widely bootlegged doesn't automatically mean it's PD, there needs to be evidence that the copyright either ran out or was waived by the filmmakers before adding it here. Links to view movies without pages here are permitted when possible. Animated examples have their own page.